latest builder is Bombardier with its latest Canadian project.
http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/bombardier%E2%80%99s-rail-business%E2%80%99-reputation-problem-just-got-worse/ar-BBqvXtG?li=AAggv0m&srcref=rss
CAF and its V-2 construction, Nippon - S and the midwest bi-levels.
Who will be next ?
A very puzzling bit of news is VRE has cars enroute that were built by N-S. Why did those pass crush test and not the midwest cars ?
blue streak 1Who will be next ?
Anyone. The problem is that each new equipment model has inherent bugs that need to be worked out. Since large-scale runs of hundreds of the same type of car are a thing of the past, almost all new passenger equipment will have bugs. That said, some builders have much better quality construction than others.
blue streak 1A very puzzling bit of news is VRE has cars enroute that were built by N-S. Why did those pass crush test and not the midwest cars ?
These cars are a different gallery car design that dates back to N-S' 1985 cars for Caltrain. Both Metra and VRE have similar cars that were built earlier in the 2000s.
For about the last two decades Bombardier has had a real problem with over-promising and under-delivering: Acela, HHP-8. However, they are very good at building cars designed by other companies: Comet/Horizon (Pullman), Superliner (Pullman), BiLevel (Hawker Siddeley), etc. Had Bombardier won the contract for the Viewliner II it is likely they would be almost done right about now. Even so, Bombardier delivered 383 cars to North American agencies last year not including 11 rapid transit cars built in conjunction with Alstom for Montreal.
As for the Midwest BiLevels, what is it they say about design-by-committee?
Editor Emeritus, This Week at Amtrak
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